Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Night Out

Too hot for words...

Night Out
Dapper Zachary

Dog Blog Post #1830



The boys have their best tuxes on - I wonder where they are going?

And why didn't they invite me to tag along?

Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - June 30, 2015 - "Handbags and Gladrags"

Daily Dog Challenge 1337. "Your Favorite Color"

I love a deep, rich red and I think it goes well with the boys' golden coats.

That said, this is not a backdrop I use very often as it has pronounced creases every 10" or so along the fold lines and takes a bit of cloning during post-processing to smooth things out.

I compromised today, given the triple digit heat, and took just a handful of shots per dog and then processed just one for each.


Night Out
Dapper Henry

Perhaps a stretch to say Henry is "Dapper" - as that implies a bit more neat and tidiness than Henry's coat will every be able to muster.

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© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Monday, June 29, 2015

Booty Box

Booty Box
Zachary: "Looks like our Box of Biscuits showed up today."
Henry: "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy..."


Booty Box
Zachary: "One Bag... Two Bags... here, hold this..."


Booty Box
Henry: "Don't you mean Bag?"
Zachary: "Three Bags... not paying any attention to you... Four Bags..."


Booty Box
Zachary: "Five and Six!"
Henry: (sniff sniff sniff)


Dog Blog Post #1829



How fortuitous!

The boys' Box of Biscuits arrived today, plus a new photography book for me. :)

Our Daily Challenge - June 29, 2015 - "Packaging"


Photography Assignment



Daily Dog Challenge 1336. "Starts With B"

Our Daily Challenge - June 29, 2015 - "Packaging"


Booty Box
More Fun With Sliders



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© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Puzzling

Look out - it's Manipulated Monday!


Puzzling
Puzzled Henry


Puzzling
Puzzled Zachary


Dog Blog Post #1828



While I've played with masking and layers in Photoshop Elements' Expert mode, I can't say I've done much of anything in Guided mode.

Here is the apply named "Puzzle Effect" under "Photo Play".

I found it extremely easy to use, and once the puzzle pieces were "extracted" I hopped over to Expert mode to select them individually and rotate them before putting them where I wanted them.


Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - June 27, 2015 - "Begins with M"

M is for Manipulated

Daily Dog Challenge 1335. "Variation"


Slider-ed but not Puzzled


Spot The Golden
Artsy Henry


Spot The Golden
Artsy Zachary


Originals


Spot The Golden
Original Henry


Spot The Golden
Original Zachary


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© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Simple Pleasures

The Boys
"Desert Time!"


Simple Pleasures
Henry: "One Cookie. Two Cookie. Three..."


Simple Pleasures
Zachary: "Cookies. It's Cookies not Cookie. There are THREE Cookies in the dish."



Simple Pleasures
Henry: "Momma! Zachary made me lose count."


Simple Pleasures
Henry: "One Cookie. Two Cookie..."
Zachary: "Please tell me we're not related."


Dog Blog Post #1827



Few things that I have qualifying as A Family Treasure are "dog safe", even for just photographic purposes.

A possible exception are these glass ice cream dishes.

Growing up, my family had always enjoyed ice cream - especially the homemade, hand-cranked variety.

These dishes (2 of 12) were purchased to hold small flower arrangements on the tables at our wedding reception some 27 years ago, with the thought that Hubby and I could enjoy many a good dish of ice cream together in the years ahead.

And we certainly have!

There is something to be said for sturdy, dishwasher-safe glass.

And who knows, perhaps Son will some day find a place for them in his cupboard.

For the record, they comfortably hold Three Big Cookies each.


Photography Assignment



Our Daily Challenge - June 27, 2015 - "A Family Treasure"

Daily Dog Challenge 1334. "Three"


Simple Pleasures
Old-Timey Photo


Editor's Note: Zachary insisted I inform everyone that it was Day Spa Day, resulting in my Models being too pooped for proper posing.

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© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Friday, June 26, 2015

Tiny Door

Tiny Door
Zachary: "What's this?"


Tiny Door
Zachary: "I heard something..."


Tiny Door
Zachary: "Henry? Was that you?"


Tiny Door
Henry: "Zachary?"


Dog Blog Post #1826



Looks like the boys found a tiny door in the Wall.

I wonder where it leads to?

Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - June 26, 2015 - "Wall"

Daily Dog Challenge 1333. "Interesting Background"


Tiny Door
Tiny Door

Anyone seen a dog or two around here?

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© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Beyond the Window

Beyond the Window
Henry: "What's that?"
Zachary: "I heard it too."


Beyond the Window
Henry: "Oh, it's just you."
Zachary: "Come a bit closer."


Beyond the Window
"Hi!"



Dog Blog Post #1825



Nope... not photoshopped.

Well, yes, there was a fair bit of slider pushing done post-processing to make the colors/tones more... interesting... but there was no cloning or layering or anything like that.

That is, you really are looking through a physical window (of sorts) to the boys posing behind - all taken "live" and in a single shot.

Curious?

Keep reading to see how this was done.


Photography Assignment


Daily Dog Challenge 1332. "Together"

Our Daily Challenge - June 25, 2015 - "Seen From A Window"


Behind the Scenes


Behind The Scenes
Window in a Wall
Yup... there's the "window" - a couple of printed images cut-n-taped onto a plastic picture frame.

For the previous pictures, it was positioned about a foot away from the lens, with the boys in their usual places...

Behind The Scenes
Big Dog plus Window in a Wall


Behind The Scenes
Zachary: "Hmmm..."


Nobody Home
Nobody Home

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© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Exotic Dogs

Trojan Dog
Zachary: "Charge!"


Big Cat
Henry: "Visa or Mastercard?"


Trojan Dog
Zachary: "He he he"


Big Cat
Big Cat Henry


Dog Blog Post #1824



Sorry guys, you're a bit Late for Halloween with your Exotic Lion / Trojan (or is it Spartan?) costumes.

Photography Assignment


Daily Dog Challenge 1331. "Late"

Our Daily Challenge - June 24, 2015 - "Exotic"


Trojan Dog
Noble Zachary


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© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Double Delicious

How Rude
Zachary: "We're on strike until a pay hike."
Henry: "Pfththththth"

What a shame.

Looks like I have this nice big basket full of Cookies...

Double Delicious
(drool drool drool)

... and no one to share it with.

Guess I'll have to see if that nice German Shepherd down the street is interested.

Double Delicious
(gasp!)


Dog Blog Post #1823



Two dogs.

Two bags of treats.

Looks like the math adds up.


Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - June 23, 2015 - "Basket of Goods"

Daily Dog Challenge 1330. "Two for Tuesday"



Double Delicious
Zachary: "Now, now, Mom. Let's not be too hasty, there... he he he."


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© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Monday, June 22, 2015

The Dog Ate My Homework

Zachary, what are you doing???

The Dog Ate My Homework
Zachary: "Huh?"

That's Son's take home test!

The Dog Ate My Homework
Zachary: (cough)


The Dog Ate My Homework
Zachary: "Pfthththth"


Dog Blog Post #1822



This TRUE story took place when my Son was in middle school and we had our first Golden Retriever, Beau...

One day, said Son placed his completed multi-page take-home test on the coffee table and went to bed.

The following morning, we awoke to find the test in pieces... LOTS of pieces... scattered about the Living Room floor.

Our best guess is that Beau's ever-wagging tail relocated the paper to the ground, and paper on the ground was fair game for shredding.

In any case, Son was most upset as Teacher had informed then that she NEVER excepted late work.

Ever.

No excuses.

Period.

But lacking any other options, I picked up each and every scrap of (soggy) paper and crammed them into a ziplock baggie and told Son to turn the darn thing in.

Son was not happy.

I was sure he wasn't going to do it.

But he did.

He handed her that little baggie with its soggy contents gave her his "Dog ate my homework" story.

She told him she'd heard that one MANY times before, but went on to say that he's the first kid that ever produced the evidence.

And she accepted it.

He even got an A!

And the baggie came back home with its (still soggy) contents undisturbed.


Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - June 22, 2015 - "Perforated"

Daily Dog Challenge 329. "Well, Nobody's Perfect"


The Dog Ate My Homework
Zachary: "I was framed."


The Dog Ate My Homework
Henry: "This baggie?"


The Dog Ate My Homework
Give me that



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© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Sunday, June 21, 2015

I Want To Be Alone

I Want To Be Alone
Henry: (pout)

Zachary, what's up with Henry?

I Want To Be Alone
Zachary: "We want to be alone."

We?

Dog Blog Post #1821


Good grief - what did I do this time?

Photography Assignment



Our Daily Challenge - June 21, 2015 - "Alone"

Daily Dog Challenge 1328. "I Want To Be Alone"


Behind The Scenes


Yes - the shot below is the same shot as the one up top minus the extra cloning to make myself disappear...

Behind the Scenes
WE want to be alone?


Had the camera back a bit farther than usual and caught myself in the shot.

For reference, my "studio" (i.e. Kitchen) has about 8' of floor space across this end, putting Henry's rump ~18" from the fridge on the left and my rump leaning up against the cabinets on the right.

I'm curled up like a praying mantis to avoid throwing any shadows, as the flash is right in front of me.

In fact, the tip of the leg of the flashes tripod was cloned out of the lower right corner of this image.

Why?

Because I can. :)

Why am I not in the other shots?

Because I was standing for those and thus took up less floor space.

And because I cloned out any bits of myself that DID appear.

And then vignetted the heck out the results to hide the fact the flooring didn't match in the cloned area.

So there.

I Want To Be Alone

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© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved